Top seed tips tough Timberwolves

GILFORD — Back in August, veteran Gilford High School boys soccer coach Dave Pinkham knew Prospect Mountain would be a force to be reckoned with this fall. And the Timberwolves certainly were.

In this budding rivalry, top-seeded Gilford and No. 8 Prospect Mountain went at each other with everything they had for 80 minutes. This time, like the previous two meetings — including a 3-1 decision in last year's semifinals — the Golden Eagles prevailed 2-1 in the Class M quarterfinals Friday afternoon.

"In the preseason I predicted that they (Prospect Mountain) were going to be there at the end," Pinkham said. "They are a very good team. To get by them and reach the semifinals is a tremendous, tremendous accomplishment for these boys.

"Like I said before, this is a resilient group of soccer players," added Pinkham. "They don't get down when we give up a goal ... they come right back."

Senior Alex Howe found an opening in the tight Prospect Mountain defense with just under 10 minutes remaining, snapping a 1-1 deadlock and lifting Gilford into the final four. The Golden Eagles (15-0-3) will meet No. 4 and defending champion Hopkinton in the 6:30 p.m. semifinal at Merrimack Valley Monday. The Hawks (14-2-2) rolled past No. 5 Belmont, 6-1.

Prospect Mountain ends its season at 12-6.

"They played their hearts out," said Prospect Mountain coach Gary Noyes. "They beat us to the ball quite a bit in the middle of the field, but we were right there. If we could have got a break and got another one, we could have put some pressure on them."

The action picked up followed a scoreless opening half that featured solid defensive efforts by both squads.

After the two teams exchanged goals, Howe put Gilford on top for good. The senior collected a pass from sophomore Christian Bua just inside the box and rifled a shot into the far corner before the Prospect Mountain defense could collapse on him.

"I had the ball at the eighteen. I saw a clear lane for the goal and let it go," Howe recalled.

"They are a great team ... unbelievable team," added Howe. "We took a couple of steps back at the end of the season ... we didn't play a couple of games up to our full potential. They are a great team and we knew we had to step it up, especially defensively. We knew we had to play our best game to win this game."

The Golden Eagles played with a lot of energy and determination, and picked up in the second half.

Gilford jumped on top at the 54:49 mark when Tucker Brown, who was called up from the junior varsity squad about three weeks, booted home a cross from Bua. The Timberwolves did not fold, coming back strong and pulling even less than five minutes later. Jack LaFreniere outraced the Gilford defense to a ball and Gilford keeper Miles Parker, tapping the ball inside the near post to make it 1-1.

It stayed knotted through the next 15 minutes, with both teams applying pressure. That's when the Golden Eagles were able to work it in deep and cashed it in.

"I thought we played very well today ... this is the best we've played in six, seven, eight games," Pinkham said. "We played a high level today. We played with our feet and distributed the ball nicely."

Another big key for the Golden Eagles was the defensive effort turned in by Greg Lines, Artem Stryha, and Matt Canole. Gilford marked Prospect Mountain star Cam Drouin with two players on their defensive end, with Stefan Defregger and Canole. Parker made four saves.

"Cam Drouin is a heck of a player. We had two people marking him all the time," Pinkham said. "Defensively we played extremely well. We didn't give up many shots. We go with 'you can bend, but you can't break' philosophy.

"It was a great game that could have gone either way," added Pinkham.

Mike Jensen played well in the Prospect Mountain goal, smothering a number of Gilford pushes and finishing with 9 saves. Also playing well were backs Corey Courchene, Moose Bourdeau, and Ryan Gillan.

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